Punjab goes fully digital in wheat procurement as harvest season accelerates

The Punjab government has launched a province-wide digital wheat procurement system, shifting the entire procurement chain to a technology-driven model as harvesting gathers pace, officials said on Monday.

Procurement operations have begun at 233 centres across Punjab, with the government setting a target price of Rs3,500 per 40kg to stabilise the market during the current season.

Officials expect wheat production to cross 22.5 million metric tons this year, despite disruptions caused by rainfall and hailstorms in key agricultural zones.

The rollout introduces a structural shift in procurement management, according to Director General Food Department Amjad Hafeez, who said the new system replaces discretionary processes with a fully digital workflow designed to reduce delays, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve transparency.

At the centre of the reform is the Bardana App, developed by the Punjab Information Technology Board, through which farmers must register to receive subsidised gunny bags. The government has allocated a Rs6 billion bardana subsidy, distributed digitally under the new mechanism.

The policy places emphasis on small farmers, who make up over 90% of Punjab’s agricultural base, by restricting eligibility to 12 acres per farmer and setting a procurement benchmark of 25 maunds per acre to ensure broader inclusion.

Payments under the system will be transferred directly into farmers’ bank accounts, bypassing intermediaries in an effort to strengthen transparency and reduce leakages in the procurement chain.

In addition, the government plans to procure up to 3 million metric tons of wheat through aggregators, a step intended to establish a market reference price covering trade with flour mills and private sector buyers.

Officials clarified that the digital procurement framework does not restrict open market activity, stating that poultry and feed sector buyers remain free to purchase wheat according to prevailing market conditions.